OK,

I'm looking at a couple of derailleurs. One is a XTR, M952 and the other is a XT, a M760 series.

Which is better? My first guess would be the XTR, but the XT is the next generation..

That's assuming that all other things are equal..

This will be going on my Rockhopper with a LX drivetrain, STI shifters.. I just want nice crisp shifts without a bunch of fuss and the LX has been nice, it's just getting long in the tooth and I like to upgrade things.

Thoughts and opinions welcome..


Thanks,

LB

https://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-DEORE-XT...item45f0d5c524

This is a awesome choice !!!

And rapid rise to boot .

Newb moment:
What does Rapid rise entail?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ra-e.html

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano.html#rapidrise

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_l.html#lownormal

oh so basically nothing special.
Thanks!
-ill book mark that.

ahh, Iight, Gotcha.

From what i was told , and yes im a newb !!! but as for rapid rise , the spring is stiffer to prevent chain skip on techy bumpy terrain .... if that is a myth i am truely a newb ..

I'd go with the XT and thats coming from someone with all XTR.

XTR.

Rapid Rise -- and Low Normal, same f'n thing -- sucks.

I'm a diehard SRAM guy, but XTR is the only Shim that will ever find its way onto my bikes.

rapid rise is awful

xt... esp since you're slapping it on a lx drivetrain, seems a bit out of proportion to put xtr on a lx kit.. ?

Definitely go with the XT. It's newer and the wider links will be stiffer, making shifts crisper.

nonsense.

That's a stupid thing to say. Why not get the better one even if everything else isn't as good?

I always use XT and I used to change the XT every year due to wear on the bikes annual stripdown. But one year I got an XTR. on a special deal. Didn't notice any difference on gear changes but did the following year and the following year. The XTR lasted for 3 years before I had to change it.

So what is the true meaning of rapid rise V standard ?

Oh please, it is not stupid.

I was just trying to say that using an XTR RD on a lower end cassette and chain/shifter doesn't make sense to me, unless of course you are in the progress of updating everything to the very best including the shifters. Why don't we slap some Yumeya gear on some walmart rides while we're at it!

XT is pretty good. LX is good enough. I doubt he can go wrong with XTR either.

'Standard' is high-normal - - in that derailleur spring-tension drops the chain down the stair-step of gears to the highest (smallest) cog. Cable-tension pulls it back up the cogs to lower gears.

Rapid-Rise is low-normal - - spring-tension works the chain up the cogs toward the lowest (largest) cog. Cable tension drops the chain back down the cogs to higher gears.

Do you need reversed shifters then? Since if you release the cable it would go up, so on a normal shifter when the window shoes the small cog (9) you'd be in the big cog (1), and then when you are actually in the small cog it would say 1 and so on.

And Elektrik - you have a point, no harm intended by my previous comment

One of the earlier Sheldon Brown links I posted explains that. Yes, your shifter indicator will be opposite what's happening . . . but who looks at the indicator anyway?

^I do sometimes lol.
so I know where-abouts I am on my drivetrain, and if so I know how many gears I have left on either side.

I believe the STI shifters are designed more for rapid rise.. The gear indicator is just a orange pointer with a L at one end and a H at the other.. I don't look at the indicators much.. I know if I'm in the right gear by how it feels.. If I'm in the lowest, then I just push though it to the top of the hill..

As for XTR on an LX drivetrain, does it really matter? You might look at it and have something to think, but as long as the person riding the bike likes it, that's what's important. XTR is overkill for me and I wouldn't even look at it, if a good deal wasn't looking me in the face.. I upgraded the bike from a Deore drivetrain with an LX rear derailleur, so a LX drivetrain with a XT rear would be the same..

I might have to pull the trigger on a rapid rise and give it a try.. It sounds like it would work for me..

Thanks for all the info!

All the XT products I've used where much easier to setup compared to XTR I think. It took me quite some time to get my XTR M960 front and rear derailleurs setup but once I mastered it, nothing compares to it in the shimano line.

As for rapid rise it takes some time to get used to but I like it over standard shifting.

XT is the King...XTR is the pansy version for wieners...and people more "well-off" than I who can actually afford it

That's what ebay is for my brotha, otherwise I would be all XT also.